Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling

By Stephanie van den Berg

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A Dutch court on Tuesday accepted Shell (LON:)’s appeal against a landmark climate ruling, dismissing the order for the oil and gas company to sharply reduce emissions.

The original 2021 ruling ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, including those caused by the use of its products.

The appeals court in The Hague dismissed the ruling, although it said Shell has a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect people from global warming.

It said Shell was already on its way to meet required targets for its own emissions, and it was unclear if demands to also reduce emissions caused by the use of its products would help the fight against climate change.

“Even though Shell bears a special responsibility as large oil and gas company, that does not mean we can apply a general reduction goal of 45%,” presiding judge Carla Joustra said.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan welcomed the decision, saying Shell believed it was “the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company”.

Shell shares traded down 0.2% in Amsterdam early on Tuesday, broadly in line with the wider index.

The ruling coincides with the COP29 U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where building on a decision at last year’s talks to transition away from fossil fuels is set to be debated.

Climate activist group Friends of the Earth Netherlands, which brought the case in 2019, said it would continue its fight against large polluters.

“This hurts,” the group’s director Donald Pols said. “At the same time, this case has shown that large polluters are not above the law.”

Friends of the Earth did not say whether it would launch a further appeal at the Netherlands’ Supreme Court.